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Pope Francis
Pope Francis (17 December 1936-), born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was Pope from 13 March 2013, succeeding Pope Benedict XVI. Created a Cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II, Bergoglio was a liberal figure in the Catholic Church before being elected to succeed the retiring Pope Benedict; he was the first Jesuit Pope, the first from the Americas, and the first from outside Europe since Pope Gregory III in the 8th century. Biography Early life Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 17 December 1936 to Italian immigrants from Piedmont who had fled Benito Mussolini's fascist regime in 1929. He worked as a janitor, bar bouncer, and chemical technician before joining the Society of Jesus in 1958 and being ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1969. In 1992, he became Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, and he became Archbishop in 1998. Bergoglio was originally a conservative theologian, banning Marxist books from the seminary library, forcing priests to wear their cassocks all day, and calling civil marriage for homosexuals "the Devil's plan"; however, he later changed his views and became a reformist. In 2001, he was appointed a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II, and he became known for his personal humility, doctrinal conservatism, and his commitment to social justice. He lived a simple lifestyle, expressed concern for the poor, supported interfaith dialogue, emphasized God's mercy, and opposed unbridled capitalism and Marxism. His opposition to socialism made him political rivals with President of Argentina Nestor Kirchner and his wife and successor Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, especially during the 2001 riots. While Bergoglio was seen as a reformist, he maintained the Church's teachings on abortion, marriage, ordination of women, and clerical celibacy. In 2005, Bergoglio was one of the main contenders for the papacy following John Paul II's death, but the conservative German Cardinal Ratzinger was elected instead, becoming Pope Benedict XVI. Bergoglio considered resigning as a Cardinal and becoming a parish priest due to his opposition to the conservative tide in the Church, which caused hundreds of thousands of Catholics to leave the Church. He originally had a tense relationship with the Pope over their doctrinal differences, as well as about Pope Benedict's poor handling of the child sex abuse crisis in the church. Ultimately, they managed to mend their poor relationship, and, in 2013, Bergoglio was elected the new Pope after Benedict resigned. Papacy Bergoglio chose the papal name "Francis" after the humble saint Francis of Assisi, as Cardinal Claudio Hummes reminded Bergoglio to remember the poor during his papacy. Pope Francis chose to live in a guesthouse rather than the lavish Papal Apartments, and he maintained that the Church should be more open and welcoming, especially to LGBT people and to lapsed Catholics. He championed environmentalism in Laudato si, as well as opposing consumerism and overdevelopment. In 2015, he successfully mediated a thaw in United States-Cuba relations, but Donald Trump reversed this progress in 2017. Francis also supported the plight of refugees in Central America and Europe, and he opposed the right of white supremacism. While he admitted divorced and remarried Catholics to Communion and investigated several sexual abuse scandals - liberal policies - he refused to change the Church's stance on clerical celibacy or the ordination of women, and he stood by traditional teachings. Category:1936 births Category:Argentine popes Category:Argentines Category:Popes Category:Argentine priests Category:Argentine bishops Category:Bishops Category:Priests Category:Catholics Category:Argentine liberals Category:Liberals